


It Had To Be You

by CherrySpice



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: AU, Adaptation, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Road Trip, Romantic Comedy, When Harry Met Sally - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-06 22:52:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17354129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherrySpice/pseuds/CherrySpice
Summary: Complete and total adaptation of When Harry Met Sally, nearly down to the script. FP and Alice are acquaintances at best as they set off from Riverdale, NY to Chicago, IL. They develop an unexpected sort of relationship as the years pass, but the big question remains: Can men and women ever just be friends?





	1. It All Started Like This

FADE IN:

 

_An older couple, a man and a woman. They’re sitting together on a love seat looking straight at the camera._

 

MAN: I was sitting with my friend Arthur Kornblum, in a restaurant, it was a Horn and Hardart cafeteria, and this beautiful girl walked in— ( _He points to the woman beside him._ ) —and I turned to Arthur and I said, “Arthur, you see that girl? I’m going to marry her.” And two weeks later we were married. And it’s over fifty years later and we’re still married.

 

FADE OUT.

 

…

 

“I love you.”

 

“I love you.”

 

Of course FP didn’t really love Amanda, but he did love the way she pressed herself against him when he said it. He also loved the new air of desperation that'd come over her since graduation. The couple barely allowed room to breathe as they bid their farewells in the parking lot of the Wyrm, exchanging sloppy kisses while entangled in each other’s arms. FP was getting the hell out of Riverdale. He was going to stay with his dad’s brother in Chicago, find some work, maybe take a few courses. He was set to hit the road with Alice Smith of all people. He wasn’t particularly looking forward to any of it, but he reasoned that leaving was leaving.

 

Alice groaned when she pulled into the lot to see the entangled lovebirds. They looked ridiculous, entirely ridiculous, nauseating even. Just one more stomach-turning moment in Riverdale. When her dad mentioned that FP would need a ride out to the Windy City, he was telling more than he was asking. Alice and FP were acquaintances at best, their neighboring addresses the only thing they seemingly had in common.

 

FP and Amanda’s embrace only picked up steam. Their mouths moved hungrily against each other, tongues darting out and teeth nipping, hands roaming. FP’s fingers toyed dangerously with the hem of Amanda’s skirt. Not a single Serpent around them took notice. 

 

Alice slowly drew near, rolling down her window as she maneuvered to where they stood. She pulled up sideways along the curb, not six feet from the couple. They paid her no mind. Alice sat quietly, catching unwanted glimpses of them through the mirror every so often. Surely, she thought, the kiss couldn’t go on _forever_. But oh, it did.

 

Alice leaned out of the window a bit, eyes darting to and from the couple. She pointedly cleared her throat, and she was frustrated but not all that surprised when they were unfazed. Her gaze darted around a bit more, she rolled her eyes, and cleared her throat even louder. This caught their attention, and they even looked a little startled when they looked over to Alice.

 

“Oh. Hi, Alice,” Amanda said with a sweet smile and wide, suspicious eyes. The girls were classmates and were both on the school paper, though Amanda had been for the entirety of high school and Alice had only just joined for senior year. They were friendly, but one would not confuse them for friends. “You know FP, from, home. Right?”

 

“Hey, Alice,” FP mumbled, and it physically pained Alice to refrain from rolling her eyes again. This was going to be a long trip. She looked between them and put on a shit-eating grin.

 

“You want to drive the first shift? Can you even drive something with four wheels?”

 

“Very funny,” FP said in another mumble. “You’re there already, you can start.” 

 

“Back’s open,” Alice said.

 

FP carried a duffel and a backpack and opened the door to the backseat of Alice’s car. Amanda followed on his heel. He slung his bags in alongside Alice’s suitcases, boxes of books, notepads, and folders. His eye strained to catch the title of a record peeking out of a box.

 

Amanda said from behind FP, “Call me.”

 

“I’ll call as soon as I get there.” FP closed the car door and turned to her.

 

“Call me from the road,” Amanda insisted.

 

“I’ll call before that,” FP lied smoothly, drawing in on her again.

 

They shared a dramatic look of passion before FP pulled her in and kissed her hard. They only grew more feverish, FP’s fingers itched to search below Amanda’s short skirt. Alice had to keep from dry heaving.

 

“I love you,” Amanda said again.

 

“I love you,” FP lied again.

 

They kissed again.

 

Alice, still sitting, still waiting, losing patience, huffed and rolled her eyes and accidentally-on-purpose laid on the car horn, the blare startling FP and Amanda apart.

 

“Sorry!” Alice said with another fake grin.

 

“I miss you already,” FP said, ignoring her, smiling at Amanda as he slowly backed away..

 

“I miss you,” Amanda sighed and briefly reached out to him.

 

“Bye.” FP was barely audible over the engine as he got into the car beside Alice. Alice was annoyed at the way the girl tapped the back of her car and put a little too much on the gas pedal. Amanda watched them disappear in a faint cloud of dust and gravel.

 

…

 

The first bit of the drive passed silently, for which Alice and FP were both glad. Alice was the first to break the silence.

 

“I have it all figured out,” she began, and FP immediately shifted up onto his knees and turned in his seat. Alice continued, eyeing him suspiciously, “It’s an eighteen-hour trip, which breaks down to six shifts of three hours each. Or, alternatively, we could break it down by mileage.” Now his ass was in her face as he dug around for something in his bags. “There’s a… there’s a map on the, uh, visor that I’ve marked to show the locations where we change shifts.” FP sunk back into his seat, and Alice saw he was eating something. Instead of acknowledging a word of what she’d just said, FP extended a fistful of grapes to Alice, casting her a sideways gaze.

 

“Grape?” 

 

“No,” Alice declined with a suspicious glance of her own, though she forced another smile, “I don’t like to eat between meals.”

 

“Those panties are wound tighter than I thought,” FP chuckled half-humoredly. He spit a grape seed out at the window, which didn’t happen to be down. “I’ll roll down the window,” he offered; he stared at her as he did so.

 

They sat in silence, aside from his lips smacking.

 

“So, why don’t you tell me your life story. Tell me about this new Alice Smith no one seems to know anymore.” FP’s loaded departure from silence took Alice off guard. 

 

“The new Alice Smith?” she repeated.

 

“Yeah. We’ve got eighteen hours to kill before we hit Chicago. You seem like a complex lady, get us started.”

 

“Talking about myself won’t even get us out of New York. I’m not complex at all.” She felt some obnoxious obligation to continue when he remained silent. “I got sick of being a piece of shit so I stopped acting like a piece of shit. That’s all.”

 

She felt his eyes searching her, boring in and shaking her confidence. Then he chuckled.

 

“What?” She demanded.

 

“Up until a year ago you turned up your nose at the sight of my varsity jacket, hanging with the Northside kids. It's just interesting to see you change your tune.”

 

“God. Whatever,” Alice snapped. “I just… I want something to happen to me. Something meaningful, something real.”

 

“Is that why you wanted me to ride with you?”

 

“I didn’t-“ 

 

Though it was clear he was only really trying to get a rise out of her, Alice couldn’t suppress the prickling irritation FP induced. Still, she could try to control her tone and limit outbursts. God it was hard to be mature.

 

“Okay, okay. But is that why you’re going to Chicago?” FP pressed on. “So something can happen to you?”

 

“Yes,” Alice answered airily.

 

“Like what?”

 

“Like I’m going to journalism school to become a reporter.”

 

“Journalism,” FP deadpanned, his eyes never leaving her, “So you can write about things that happen to other people.” He spit a grape seed out the window every thirty seconds or so.

 

There was a beat of silence in which Alice briefly pulled her eyes from the road to stare at him curiously. He had the strangest way of completely pissing her off while filling her with wild intrigue.

 

“That’s one way to look at it,” she replied mildly.

 

“I mean, bear with me here, Alice. Suppose nothing happens to you at all. Suppose you settle into Chicago or New York and you live there your whole life and nothing happens. You never meet anyone, you never become anything, and finally you die one of those big city deaths where nobody notices for two weeks until the smell drifts out into the hallway.” 

 

Alice noticed after a moment her mouth was hanging slightly ajar. She was honestly a bit surprised she wasn’t angrier with him, but then how could you be truly angry at something so absurd. That’s what she told herself, anyway, that what he said was absurd and not at all likely. Not at all. Her grip tightened on the wheel. 

 

_What did I get myself into?_

 

After another glance his way, Alice looked back at the road. The miles stretched by as Alice carried them along the highway. 

 

“So you seem to be getting better acquainted with your dark side these days,” Alice mused. “Why is that?”

 

“The ladies seem to like it.” A smirk pulled the corner of FP’s mouth.

 

“Your dark side?” Alice wondered why the hell she’d begun the conversation.

 

“Sure. Why? Don’t you still have a dark side, Alice? Or now are you one of those cheerful people who dot their ‘i’s’ with little hearts?” 

 

Alice gripped the wheel so hard her knuckles were white. FP could see how easily he was getting to her, and he reveled in it.

 

“When I buy a new book, I read the last page first. That way, in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends. That, my friend, is a dark side.” Alice scoffed, a humorless chuckle escaping her.

 

“Oh, please, that doesn’t mean you’re deep. Sure it’s something I work on, but I’m basically a happy person…”

 

“So am I,” FP said. He was still spitting grape seeds.

 

“…and I don’t see that there’s anything wrong with that.” Alice didn’t believe anything she was saying but she just wanted to prove him wrong.

 

“Of course not, you’re too busy being happy. Do you ever think about death?”

 

“Yes,” Alice said with irritation clear in her voice.

 

“Sure you do A fleeting thought that drifts in and out of the transom of your mind. I spend hours, I spend days—“

 

“—and you think this makes you a better person?” Alice really couldn’t bear to hear him go on. _What an idiot_.

 

“Look, when the shit comes down, I’m going to be prepared and you’re not, that’s all I’m saying.” He turned his head slowly to look out the window.

 

“And in the meantime,” Alice’s voice was tired, “you’re going to ruin your whole life waiting for it.” Her eyes were wide, incredulous, and she shook her head. FP spit another grape seed.

 

…

 

“You’re wrong.”

 

“I’m not wrong.”

 

“You’re wrong.”

 

“He wants her to leave. That’s why he puts her on the plane,” FP reasoned.

 

“I don’t think she wants to stay,” Alice argued.

 

“Of course she wants to stay. Wouldn’t you rather be with Humphrey Bogart than that other guy?”

 

FP took a pre-planned exit and rounded a corner near some refinery tanks on the way to a diner parking lot.

 

“I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in _Casablanca_ married to a man who runs a bar. Call me snobbish, but I don’t.” They pulled up in front of a diner straight out of the fifties. It was cute, sure, but nothing could hold a candle to Pop’s.

 

“You’d rather have a passionless marriage—“

 

“—and be First Lady of Czechoslovakia—“

 

“—than live with the man you’ve had the greatest sex of your life with, just because he owns a bar and that’s all he does.”

 

Alice seemed to consider him for half a second, mouth ajar as she glanced around the car. “Yes. And so would any woman in her right mind. Women are very practical.” She pulled a can of hair spray seemingly out of nowhere and began spraying her hair wrecklessly. “Even Ingrid Bergman, which is why she gets on that plane at the end of the movie.” FP blinked slowly at her as she replaced the cap and slapped it on harder than necessary.

 

“Oh, I understand,” he said simply and got out of the car. Alice followed suit, but her eyes followed FP constantly.

 

“What?” A pregnant pause. “What?”

 

“Nothing.” They closed their car doors and FP crossed toward the diner. Alice followed after him.

 

“What?” She repeated persistently.

 

“Forget about it,” he said uselessly.

 

“What? What? Forget about what?” 

 

And, of course, FP didn’t answer. He instead headed up the stairs to the diner, Alice following close behind.

 

“Now just tell me, FP, Jesus.” 

 

FP turns on his heel when he reaches the door, startling Alice and sending her body colliding softly into his. He looked down at her with hooded eyes.

 

“Obviously you haven’t had great sex.”

 

He then turned on his heel again and pushed his way into the diner. Alice followed.

 

“Table for two, please,” FP was already telling the hostess. She pointed him over to a vacant table.

 

“Yes I have,” Alice said defensively.

 

“No, you haven’t,” FP said, crossing away from her towards the table.

 

“It just so happens I have had plenty of good sex,” Alice retorted loudly behind him. She didn’t realize she’d stopped walking until she felt every eye in the diner on her. She met nearly all of their stares in return, took a deep breath, and ducked her head as she went over to FP. She cast a few more suspicious looks as she slid into the booth across from him.

 

“With whom?” FP’s eyes were glued to the menu.

 

“What?”

 

“With whom have you had this great sex?” FP closed the menu and laid it on the table. He crossed his hands over it. Alice’s face flushed a soft but noticeable shade of pink.

 

“I’m not going to tell you that,” she whisper yelled.

 

“Fine. Don’t tell me.” FP opened the menu again but this time he only pretended to study it. Her frustration just encouraged him, his seeming indifference driving her mad. Alice’s fingers fumbled over the cover of her menu and she opened it quickly but her eyes did not turn to it. She stared at FP and raised a brow.

 

“Hal Cooper,” she finally said with superiority. She and Hal had been secretly seeing each other off and on since the previous winter. Forced confidence in place, Alice still couldn’t quite bring herself to meet FP’s eyes.

 

“Hal. Hal? _Harold_? No. You did not have great sex with Hal Cooper.” Alice could see a faint twinkle in his eye and it made her crazy. Her hands found the menu as she resisted balling them into fists.

 

“I did, too.”

 

“No, you didn’t.” Alice turned her head completely away from FP as he spoke. “Hal can do your taxes. If you need a root canal, Hal is your man, but humping and pumping is not Hal’s strong suit. Forget that the kid is a complete pussy, just his name is bad enough. ‘Do it to me, Hal.’ ‘You’re an animal, Hal.’ ‘Ride me, big _Hal_.’ It doesn’t work.” With each ‘Hal’ FP’s voice grew more annoying for emphasis. 

 

“What can I get you?” Before Alice could come back with a rebuttal the waitress approached. 

 

“I’ll have the Number Three,” FP ordered. The waitress turned to Alice.

 

“I’d like the chef salad, please, with the oil and vinegar on the side. And the apple pie à la mode.” 

 

“Chef and apple à la mode,” the waitress repeated as she scribbled in her notebook.

 

“But I’d like the pie heated,” Alice continued, “and I don’t want the ice cream on top, I want it on the side. And I’d like strawberry instead of vanilla if you have it.” FP’s eyes bulged a bit, and he was even more floored when she continued. “If not, then no ice cream, just whipped cream, but only if it’s real. If it’s out of a can, then nothing.”

 

“Not even the pie?” 

 

“No, just the pie. But then not heated.” The waitress’s jaw hung open for a second and she tucked her pen behind her ear. As she retreated to the counter FP stared at Alice in disbelief. “What?”

 

“Nothing, nothing,” FP murmured. “So how come you broke up with Harold?”

 

“Hal,” Alice said in a small voice. She missed the flash in FP’s eyes.

 

“Why did you and _Hal_ break up?”

 

“How do you know we broke up?” 

 

“Because if you didn’t break up, you wouldn’t be here with me, you’d be off with Hal the Wonder Schlong.” That put a little fight back in Alice.

 

“First of all, I’m not _with_ you. And second of all, it’s none of your business why we broke up.”

 

“You’re right, you’re right,” FP conceded and held out his hands, “I don’t want to know.” 

 

A beat of silence passed and Alice momentarily lost herself thinking of her situation with Hal. Their relationship had been sweet at the best of times and explosive at their worst. They debated doing the long distance thing, with Alice at Northwestern and Hal at Yale, but they both knew that’s the last thing either of them truly wanted. Hal was safe, but then again he wasn’t. Alice snapped out of it and mustered as much confidence as she could, though it really came across as sass.

 

“Well, if you must know, he can be very jealous. And there are these Days of the Week underwear I have.”

 

FP made a honking sound like a buzzer and Alice once again had his full attention. “I’m sorry, I need a judge’s ruling on this. Days of the Week underwear?” 

 

“Yes,” Alice answered matter-of-factly. “They have the days of the week on them, and I think they’re sort of funny—and one day Hal says to me, ‘You never wear Sunday.’ He’s all suspicious. Where was Sunday? Where had I left Sunday? And I told him, and he didn’t believe me.”

 

Of course this whole story was a diversion, but it was also, bizarrely, true.

 

“What?” FP asked with an interest that humored Alice, though she wouldn’t show it.

 

“They don’t make Sunday.”

 

“Why not?” 

 

“Because of God.”

 

They stared at each other for a moment, FP’s expression incredulous while Alice’s remained still as stone. 

 

…

 

As they finished their meal, Alice worked at figuring out her portion of the bill. “Fifteen percent of my share is…” she mumbled to herself, writing, “…six-ninety… leave seven…”

 

She slowly looked up upon feeling FP’s eyes on her. He was openly staring at her.

 

“What?” She nervously wiped at the corner of her lip, thinking she may have missed a trace of food. FP continued to stare with an easy smile on his lips. Alice wiped more aggressively at her mouth, her nose, her chin. “Do I have something on my face?”

 

“You’re a very attractive person,” FP said bluntly. 

 

Alice was caught off guard, lips parted. She abruptly dropped her hands. “Thank you,” she said, slowly and with an effort to disguise her tone.

 

“I never really noticed how attractive you are. No one really talks about it.”

 

“Maybe it’s not a popular opinion,” Alice said with faltering nerves.

 

“I don’t think it’s a matter of opinion. Empirically, you are attractive.” FP leaned in closer across the table and looked at her with the same hooded eyes from before. Alice made a noise of annoyance and pushed herself up out of the booth. FP stood and took a step closer to her, hands stuffed in his pockets.

 

“Amanda is my friend,” she whispered unconvincingly. The exchange between the two girls earlier that day was among the most extensive of their one-on-one conversations. FP threw down a crumpled bill and they made their way to the door.

 

“So?” 

 

“So you’re going with her.”

 

“So?”

 

“So, you’re coming on to me.”

 

“No, I wasn’t,” FP answered as he stepped out of the door and into the cool night air. Alice simply looked at him. 

 

“What?” He continued. “Can’t a man say a woman is attractive without it being a come-on?”

 

He walked to the driver’s side and Alice to the passenger’s. They each realized their errors and met at the front of the car. When FP took a step towards her, Alice backed away. Behind his look of indifference Alice could see he thought this was funny. She grunted and turned to take the long way around the car rather than take one step closer to him.

 

“All right, all right,” he surrendered to her again. He could see she was upset, but then she usually was. What was unusual was that he kind of cared. Only a little. “Let’s just say,” he began, “just for the sake of argument, that it was a come-on. Okay. What do you want me to do about it? I take it back, okay? I take it back.”

 

“You can’t take it back,” Alice said coldly.

 

“Why not?” FP was waving his arms out at his sides.

 

“Because it’s already out there.”

 

An awkward pause sat between them.

 

“Oh, jeez,” FP sighed. “What are we supposed to do? Call the cops? It’s already out there!”

 

“Just let it lie, okay?” 

 

“Great! Let it lie. That’s my policy.” Finally they both got into the car. “That’s what I always say. Let it lie.” 

 

Alice could have shaken him, she was so frustrated.

 

“Want to spend the night in a motel?” Alice shot him a death glare. “See what I did? I didn’t let it lie.”

 

“FP—” Alice warned.

 

“I said I would and then I didn’t—“ FP antagonized.

 

“FP—“

 

“I went the other way—“

 

“FP!“

 

“What?”

 

Alice gulped. “We are just going to be friends, okay?”

 

“Great. Friends. The best thing.” FP was suddenly unamused. Alice started up the car and pulled out. She knew he thought she was ridiculous, she told herself she thought the same of him.

 

…

 

“You realize, of course, that we could never be friends.” FP said around a toothpick he was chewing.

 

“Why not?” Alice asked.

 

“What I’m saying—and this is not a come-on in any way, shape, or form—is that men and women can’t be friends, because the sex part always gets in the way.” There was a faint carefulness in his voice.

 

“That’s not true. I have a number of men friends and there’s been no sex involved.”

 

“No, you don’t,” FP challenged.

 

“Yes, I do,” Alice shot back.

 

“No, you don’t.”

 

“Yes, I do.”

 

“You only think you do.”

 

“You’re saying I’m having sex with these men without my knowledge?” Alice arched a thick brow, shifting lightly in her seat.

 

“No, I’m saying they all _want_ to have sex with you,” FP answered plainly.

 

“They do not,” Alice once again refused.

 

“Do too.”

 

“They do not.”

 

“Do too.”

 

“How do you know?”

 

“Because no man can be friends with a woman he finds attractive. He always wants to have sex with her.”

 

“So you’re saying a man _can_ be friends with a woman he finds unattractive,” Alice bartered, unwilling to believe FP completely.

 

“No,” FP said with a lighthearted shake of his head. “You pretty much want to nail them, too.”

 

“Well what if _they_ don’t want to have sex with _you_?”

 

“Doesn’t matter, because the sex thing is already out there, so the friendship is ultimately doomed, and that is the end of the story.”Alice parted her lips and pursed them, another pause before she answered.

 

“Well, I guess we’re not going to be friends, then.”

 

“Guess not.”

 

“That’s too bad,” Alice said, paused, and then continued, “You were the only person I knew in Chicago.”

 

…

 

The pair rolled into Chicago and were met by a gorgeously warm and sunny day. They’d decided Alice would drop FP at a park near his uncle’s garage before heading to her freshman orientation.

 

When the car was in park FP hopped out and gathered his things from the back seat. Alice also got out and walked to the back of the car. She placed her hands on her hips. FP took a step closer to her with both bags on his arms.

 

“Thanks for the ride,” he said, his voice low.

 

“Yeah, it was interesting.”

 

They both felt a similar, unexplainable sinking in their stomachs.

 

“It was nice knowing you.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Alice nodded, FP nodded, and an awkward silence fell between them.For a second Alice was scared one of them might lean in and kiss the other. Instead, she held out a hand to FP and he gently shook it.

 

“Well, have a nice life,” Alice added. 

 

“You too,” FP said with the smallest smile. 

 

FP strolled past her towards the shade of a cluster of trees, and Alice got back in the car. He walked off, and she drove away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you to those who convinced me to write Alice and FP. They're my favorite, I'm glad others want to see more of them, too. As of now I am staying as faithful to the original story as possible, but this is the only section I've completed so far. While they are not complete strangers like the characters in the film, imagine them being as close to it as two people from Riverdale could be. Let me know what you think!


	2. Five Years Later

FADE IN:

 

_Another older couple sitting together on the same love seat we saw earlier._

 

SECOND WOMAN: We fell in love in high school.

SECOND MAN: Yeah, we were high school sweethearts.

SECOND WOMAN: But then after our junior year, his parents moved away.

SECOND MAN: But I never forgot her.

SECOND WOMAN: He never forgot me.

SECOND MAN: Her face was burned on my brain. And it was thirty-four years later that I was walking down Broadway and I see her coming out of Toffenetti’s.

SECOND WOMAN: And we both looked at each other, and it was just as though not a single day had gone by.

SECOND MAN: She was just as beautiful as she was at sixteen.

SECOND WOMAN: He was just the same. He looked exactly the same.

 

FADE OUT.

 

…

 

Five years passed. Alice graduated and relocated to New York to join Hal for grad school. She and Hal had been back together for just over a year with no hiccups, their new personal record. 

 

Alice giggled as Hal pecked short kisses on her lips in quick succession. He held her close at the waist and her hands found his chest; she toyed with the fabric of his jacket and slowly made their kisses longer.

 

FP was also leaving La Guardia that morning. He was half-baked and in a bit of a hurry, flying down the terminal towards his gate and clutching construction plans at his chest. The open display certainly caught his attention and he shot a few stares at the love birds. He walked a few paces past them but then he stopped, realizing he recognized something in one of their obstructed faces. He backed up and came to stand right next to them. Great, they were even closer now. But he couldn’t very go on without saying hello, now could he? That would just be rude.

 

Alice was the first to notice him. Her lips were still on Hal’s when she saw FP and her eyes grew wide. FP’s gaze was fixed on Hal, so Alice softly cleared her throat and tapped Hal in FP’s direction. 

 

“Hal—I thought it was you. I thought it was you!” FP held his hand out and the men shook, now smiling, “FP Jones.”

 

“FP! FP, how ya doing?” Hal chuckled a little inauthentically.

 

“Good. How you doing?” FP had a fake smile to match.

 

“I’m just fine. I’m doing fine.”

 

“I was just walking by, and I thought it was you, and here it is, it’s you.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, it was.” 

 

“You writing for the _Times_ yet?” 

 

“No, I’m writing for the _Register_ while I’m still in school.”

 

“The Riverdale _Register_?” FP’s brow was cocked.

 

“Well, yeah,” Hal’s smile looked a little more forced.

 

“Oh.” FP checked a smirk that threatened to reach his lips.

 

“What about you?”

 

“I’m working with Fred Andrews. He’s starting up a construction company. I’m the people person.” He gave a wry smile and waved the plans he was holding. Alice was nearly hiding behind Hal, her eyes darting between FP and the floor, but FP didn’t steal a single glance at her and Hal made no effort to bring her to the foreground.

 

“Oh yeah?” Hal seemed surprised.

 

“Yeah, it’s been great. Yeah.” The two nodded for an awkward moment. “Well, listen, I got a plane to catch. It was really good to see you, Hal.” FP gave a weak wave of his hand.

 

“You too, FP.”

 

“Bye,” FP said, for the first time, to Alice. His eyes were wild and unreadable as they met hers for a fleeting moment. Alice was a little startled by the whole encounter and she just nodded in return. Then FP took off in a brisk walk as the couple’s eyes followed him.

 

“Thank God he didn’t talk to me. We drove from Riverdale to Chicago together five years ago and it was the longest night of my life.” Alice felt the familiar pang of irritation she’d felt all that time ago, her eyes narrowing into slits as FP disappeared through security.

 

“What happened?” Hal asked with a hand on her elbow, silently demanding her attention back to him. Alice obliged, turning her annoyed gaze on him.

 

“He made a pass at me, and when I said no, he was going with a girlfriend of mine—“ Alice’s face suddenly softened, eyes looking far off, “—oh God, I can’t remember her name. I remember going off on him for how wrong that was, how close we girls were, and I can’t even remember her name.”

  
“So what happened?”

 

“When?” 

 

“When he made a pass at you and you said no.” Alice was too distracted to really register the sharpness growing in Hal’s tone.

 

“Uh… I said we could just be friends, and—this part I remember—he said men and women could never really be friends.” Hal seemed to visibly relax. He smiled and shook his head as Alice asked, “Do you think that’s true?”

 

“No,” he said without looking completely convinced.

 

“Do you have any women friends? Just friends?”

 

“No, but I’ll get one if it’s important to you.” All the edge was gone from his voice and was replaced with an artificial sweetness. Alice was still preoccupied. She smiled and leaned in to kiss Hal. Then she quickly jerked back.

 

“Amanda Reese. Thank God.”

 

“I’m going to miss you,” Hal fights back for her attention. “I love you.”

 

“You do?” Alice’s eyes grew big. They’d avoided saying that to each other since high school. She was completely shocked. Hal did something between a nod and a shrug, giving a smug little smile.

 

“Yes.”

 

“I love you.” Alice was smiling widely, the unfamiliar words oddly comforting. 

 

Hal leaned in and connected their lips in another kiss, this one deeper than those they shared before.

 

…

 

On the plane Alice slipped into a daydream. For the first time in her life she allowed herself to imagine a future with Hal. They were on similar career paths, it wasn’t insane to think they could end up with the success they each sought working side-by-side. Maybe have a few kids, do the whole thing. 

 

She smiled and stared blankly ahead, an abandoned _New York Times_ in her lap. The man beside her was reading a copy of his own. FP sat directly behind the man on the aisle. He shifted in his seat and caught a glimpse of Alice’s hair. 

 

He hadn’t ignored her intentionally before. Not entirely, anyway. It wasn’t until he'd begun talking to Hal that he realized it was her, her hair was shorter now, and at that point he figured she either didn’t recognize him either or didn’t want to engage. If the latter was true he could have had some fun irritating her again, but something in him held back. 

 

FP leaned forward until his face was inches behind them in the dip between their seats. After a moment he sat back but his eyes remained glued to the blonde.

 

Alice remained beautifully oblivious. The stewardess came down the aisle with the drink cart and asked if anyone in the row wanted anything. Alice was snapped out of her trance.

 

“Do you have any Bloody Mary mix?” Alice asked.

 

“Yes,” the stewardess replied as she finished passing out peanuts and reached for a can.

 

“No, wait,” Alice stopped her. “Here’s what I want. Regular tomato juice, filled about three quarters, and add a splash of Bloody Mary mix, just a splash, and…” FP’s head popped up in the space behind her again, “…a little piece of lime, but on the side.”

 

“I’ll be damned, Alice Smith,” FP said in her ear. Alice shifted around to look at him and struggled to keep her face straight. Her breath was shaky.

 

“FP,” she muttered as she turned away from him again.

 

“How long has it been, five years already? Did you look this good five years ago?” FP had fully risen out of his seat now, his shadow hung over Alice and the man beside her as FP leaned over them.

 

“No,” Alice deadpanned. 

 

FP smirked, “Did we ever…?” He punctuated his implication by repeatedly bumping his fist in the air beside Alice. 

 

“What? No. No!” Alice whispered nervously and swatted his hand away. She was mildly horrified to see the humored smile on her neighbor’s face. “We drove from New York to Chicago together after graduation,” she explained to the stranger.

 

“Would you two like to sit together?” He asked, looking and motioning between them. 

 

“No,” Alice answered quickly.

 

“Great! Thank you,” FP answered more loudly. He and the man shuffled around each other and exchanged a nod as they switched spots. He settled into the seat and lowered his voice. “You were a friend of, um…”

 

“Amanda’s,” Alice supplied superiorly. She turned to cast her gaze ahead of her, shaking her head. “I can’t believe you can’t remember her name.”

 

“What do you mean? I can remember. Amanda. Right? Amanda Rice.” 

 

“Reese,” Alice corrected. There it was, that fascinated frustration. 

 

“Reese, right. That’s what I said. Whatever happened to her?” FP was leaning in a little closer than Alice would have liked.

 

“I have no idea,” she said quietly, looking down at her paper. 

 

“You have no idea?” FP asked with faux shock. “You were really good friends with her. We didn’t make it because you were such good friends.”

 

“You went with her,” Alice said with an offended stare.

 

“And was it worth it? This sacrifice for a friend you haven’t even kept in touch with?”

 

“FP,” Alice said gently after a long exhale, “you might not believe this, but I _never_ considered not sleeping with you a sacrifice.” She had lowered her voice and was looking up at him through her lashes. He lowered his face and looked at her the same way.

 

“Fair enough… fair enough.”

 

They smirked at one another and turned to face ahead, Alice back to her paper and FP sipping a clear drink that was most likely not water. He pursed his lips and knitted his brows, then broke their brief silence.

 

“You were going to be a gymnast,” he said suddenly turning to her again.

 

“A journalist,” she corrected without looking up.

 

“Right, that’s what I said. And?” Alice took another deep breath before responding.

 

“I am a journalist, I work at the _News_.” She gave him half a glance, pulling her eyes away from the paper for a second.

 

“Great,” FP said happily, “and you’re with Hal. Again.” Alice nodded. “Well, that’s great. Great. You’re together—what—just under a year this time around?” Alice turned to eye him suspiciously.

 

“Just over a year. How did you know that?”

 

“Well clearly you two have been on and off over the years, and don’t make me defend that assertion because, like I said, it’s clear. So you get older, you both do some maturing, you feel _really_ ready. You’ve been together longer than any of the other times before, but there’s still some of that magical newness there.” Alice couldn’t tell if she was nodding or not, her head was spinning around FP’s rambling. He went on when she remained silent. “And, he still takes you to the airport. That’s one of those extra-effort moves, that’s why I’ve never taken a girlfriend to the airport.”

 

“Why?” Alice asked, a little amazed at him.

 

“Because eventually things move on and you don’t take someone to the airport, and I never wanted anyone to say to me, ‘How come you never take me to the airport anymore?’” He held a blank and pleasant expression.

 

“It’s amazing. You look like a normal person, but actually you’re the Angel of Death,” Alice said with undisguised irritation. She swung her head away from him again.

 

“Are you going to marry him?” Alice huffed, momentarily speechless.

 

“We… haven’t discussed it. I think it’s entirely possible, yes. Just, not yet.”

 

“I’m getting married.” Alice turned to FP in shock.

 

“You are?”

 

“Um-hmm.” He wore a proud smile.

 

“You are?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Who is she?”

 

“Gladys Gleeson. She’s from home, works in a garage. She might keep her name.”

 

Alice shook her head. “You’re getting married.” Then Alice laughed brightly. FP’s smile faltered for a moment.

 

“Yeah. What’s so funny about that?” Alice was still giggling.

 

“It’s just so optimistic of you, FP.” She’d quit laughing and fallen serious. FP smiled warmly once more.

 

“Well, you’d be amazed what falling madly in love can do for you.” Now he was the one that almost looked dreamy. He spoke lightly and rested his head back onto his seat.

 

“Well, it’s wonderful. It’s nice to see you embracing life in this manner.” She genuinely felt a little proud of him.

 

“Yeah, plus, you know you just get to a certain point where you get tired of the whole thing.” FP spoke so matter-of-factly yet Alice had no idea what he was talking about.

 

“What whole thing?”

 

“The whole life-of-a-single-guy thing. You meet someone, you have the safe lunch, you decide you like each other enough to move on to dinner, you go dancing, you do the white man’s overbite—“ he paused to do an impression “—you go back to her place, you have sex, and the minute you’re finished you know what goes through your mind?” He paused, though not long enough to allow Alice to answer. “How long do I have to lie here and hold her before I can get up and go home? Is thirty seconds enough?”

 

“That’s what you’re thinking? Is that true?” Alice almost looked wounded. She hated being challenged like this, especially because she had an aching feeling FP was right.

 

“Sure,” FP shrugged. “All men think that. How long do you like to be held afterwards? All night, right? See, that’s the problem. Somewhere between thirty seconds and all night is your problem.”

 

“I don’t have a problem.”

 

“Yeah you do.”

 

FP didn’t look smug, but he looked quite sure of himself. Alice looked like she didn’t know which way was up.

 

…

 

The rest of the flight was much quieter. Alice forced herself to stare at her paper until the words on it began to make sense. FP backed off after seeing how much he’d rattled her and kept to himself, for the most part. They got separated when they deplaned for which Alice said a little prayer of thanks. 

 

She stood on a moving sidewalk that carried her through the terminal, still reading her paper. FP wove through the cluster of people between them and silently came to stand beside her. Feeling his presence there, Alice slowly looked up and jumped a little. Why was she surprised?

 

“You staying over?” FP asked. She slowly lowered the paper in front of her and breathed deeply.

 

“Yes,” she sighed on a long exhale.

  
“Would you like to have dinner?” Alice shot him a pointed look that seemed to say ‘Yeah, right.’ He shrugged. “What? Just friends.”

 

“I thought you didn’t believe men and women could be friends.” Alice turned her gaze ahead.

 

“When did I say that?”

 

“On the ride to Chicago.” 

 

“No, no, no, no. I never said that.” FP looked straight on and considered it. Then he nodded. “Yes. That’s right. They can’t be friends…” A brief pause. “… unless both of them are involved with other people. Then they can.” They were looking at each other again. FP raised a pointed finger as he continued. “This is an amendment to the earlier rule. If the two people are in relationships the pressure of possible involvement is lifted.” 

 

Alice shook her head at him and began to walk in front of, and away from, FP. He kept up at her heels and continued to speak as she rolled her eyes and shook her head. 

 

“Although that doesn’t work either. Because what happens is the person you’re involved with doesn’t understand why you need to be friends with the person you’re friends with, like it must mean something’s missing from your relationship and you have to go outside to get it, and when you say, ‘No no, no, it’s not true, there’s nothing missing from the relationship,’ the person you’re involved with accuses you of being secretly attracted to the person you’re just friends with, which you probably are, let’s face it, who the hell are we kidding, which brings us back to the original rule before the amendment, which is men and women can’t be friends, so where does that leave us?” They’d woven through the traffic of the moving sidewalk and were both slightly out of breath by the end of the rant. FP was aloof; Alice looked entirely miserable.

 

“FP.” She sighed and stopped walking. She turned to him.

 

“Yes, Alice?” Alice’s lips spread into a thin, forced smile.

 

“Goodbye.”

 

“Okay.”

 

They both began to walk again, keeping the same pace for an awkward moment. Alice slowly looked over at FP, who smiled meekly.

 

“I’ll just stop walking and let you get ahead,” he offered. He watched as she disappeared into the crowd ahead.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys! For now I'm splitting this up like the movie does, so this one isn't entirely eventful. I'm so glad there's some interest in this, and I hope it doesn't disappoint! Feedback is always lovely and helpful <3


End file.
